The following describes the procedures for Archiving a course in Blackboard.  This procedure should be used when you want to preserve data at the end of a semester or at any other time.  Though courses are only used once and will remain on Blackboard for approx. two years, Archiving will insure you have a record of the course beyond that period.

Archiving a Course

Note:  Before you begin you may want to create a new folder on your computer's hard drive and give it a name that represents the course and semester you are archiving (you might even include the specific section and/or call number for further accuracy).  You will place in this folder the files downloaded/saved in the steps below.

To Archive a course, read and perform all of the following steps:

1. In the course "Control Panel", under "Packages and Utilities", click "Export/Archive Course".
2. Click the "Archive" button near the top of the page.
3. Check the box for “Include Grade Center History".
4. Click "Submit".
5. A receipt message will be displayed near the top of the page that says, "This action has been queued. An e-mail will be sent when the process is complete."
6. Check your e-mail "Inbox" (JSU e-mail address) for the confirmation message that indicates the archive was completed successfully.  The time it takes for the e-mail to arrive will depend on the size of the source course, as well as other factors, but for most, the message should arrive within approx. 5 to 10 minutes.
7. Once you receive the confirmation e-mail, go back to Blackboard and into the course where you just performed the "Archive" process.
8. Right-click on the archive file and choose "Save Target As" (if using IE) or "Save Link As" (if using Firefox).  Note:  This file will only remain in your Blackboard course for approximately 15 days, so it is important that you follow through with these steps to save the file onto your computer.
9. Choose a location on your computer to save the file (in a folder you can locate later if needed).  Do not attempt to open the file, it is not a file that you will be able to open.  It is only saved for emergency use in case certain types of information are needed later after we have removed old courses from Blackboard.  Note:  The zip file is intended for backup purposes only.  An instructor can't import the course back into Blackboard, that must be done at an administrative level.
10. Even though the "Grade Center" is included in the "Archive" process above, you may want to use other features available for saving and/or viewing content offline.  Those features are described below.

Download Grading History:

1. In the "Grade Center", click the "Reports" menu and select the "View Grade History" menu option.
2. Click the "Download" button.
3. Select the delimiter type.
4. Select whether to include Grade Center comments.
5. Click the "Submit" button.
6. Click the "Download" button.
7. Open or Save the file as desired.

Work Offline:

1. In the "Grade Center", click the "Work Offline" menu and click "Download".
2. Select "Full Grade Center".
3. Select options desired.
4. Click "Submit".
5. Open or Save the file as desired.

Print a Student Grade Report:

1. In the "Grade Center", click the "Reports" menu and select the "Create Report" menu option.
2. Select which components to include in the report header.
3. Select users.
4. Select which user information to include in the reports.
5. Select which columns to include in the reports.
6. Select what column information to include in the reports.
7. Select which components to include in the report header.
8. Click the "Preview" button to preview the reports.
9. Click the "Submit" button to generate the reports and return to the "Grade Center" spreadsheet.